Amanda Graystone
Dr. Amanda Graystone is a renowned plastic surgeon who works at Caprica General Hospital in Caprica City. She is married to wealthy industrialist, Daniel Graystone Personality Unlike her husband, she is not classist or arrogant. She also has a creative side and is a photographer. Health Amanda has severe mental depression stemming from a trauma in her youth. She has a substance dependency and sometimes mixes antidepressants with Scorpion Ambrosia. She smokes purple with Clarice Willow at the Dive. Her depression returns in the weeks following her daughter's death and culminates in a near tragedy. She eventually conquers this depression, regaining her strength and fiery will. Youth Amanda had a brother named Darius, who was killed in a car crash. After the accident, she had trouble coping with reality and saw her dead brother everywhere. Amanda dropped out of college and disengaged from life. At some point, she tried to take her life by slashing her wrists. Three years after the accident, Amanda checked into the Delphi Convalescent Institute and stayed for two and a half years. She spent the first six months chasing her brother down hallways - some real, some imaginary. Because she was in the car with him, she has survivor's guilt and regrets leaving some things unsaid. Amanda says surviving is her punishment. Family Life In 22YR Amanda married Daniel Graystone. "Gray Matters." Caprica: Season 1.0, created by Ronald D. Moore and Remi Aubuchon, special feature, Eric Stoltz's commentary, Syfy, 2010, disc two, 2:42. He is the industrialist who would later pioneer the first Cybernetic Life Form Node. While Amanda was pregnant with Zoe in 26YR, she and Daniel lived in a flat in Cloverdale. Times were hard and they were behind on the rent. They could not afford even upper level C-Bucs tickets. After Daniel made his deal with MicroCap, the Graystones moved to a house that Zoe loved. She planted a garden there with Amanda. When Zoe was five (31YR), the house burned down in a fire. Zoe was traumatized and has been afraid of fire ever since. As their fortunes increased, the Graystones moved into a mansion in the posh Lake District near Caprica City. The Graystones love to camp, but the last time they went camping, much less took any vacation, was when Zoe was nine years old (35YR). They went to the Ionian Islands on Caprica to escape the winter and celebrate Zoe's birthday. Marriage Zoe Amanda's relationship with her daughter Zoe is strained and often unpleasant. Zoe has a harsh view of her parents' scientific professions. She is rude, angry and defiant with them. Amanda thinks Zoe is an ungrateful teenager who does not appreciate the advantages they have given her. In a particularly heated argument, which occurs after Zoe was caught using the holoband at the Athena Academy, Zoe accuses her mother of marrying into money. In a flash of anger, Amanda slaps Zoe. Zoe tells her that she will regret that for the rest of her life and storms out of the room. Immediately regretful, Amanda says she did not mean it. Daniel assures her that Zoe knows she did not. Zoe kept secrets from her mother, so much so that Amanda comes to realize that she did not know her daughter. Zoe was a Monotheist, holding beliefs that Amanda does not understand at all. Her daughter had a boyfriend about whom she knew nothing. Amanda only finds out about him a year later after they both perished in the MAGLEV bombing. Tragedy Zoe abandons her family for a new one, waiting for her and her boyfriend, Ben Stark, at a Monotheist safe house on Gemenon. They take the MAGLEV to the spaceport. On the way, Zoe sends a letter via e-sheet to Amanda, saying she forgives her. Immediately afterwards, Ben reveals bombs strapped to his chest. In the name of the One True God, Ben detonates the bombs, destroying Train 23 and killing over five-hundred people. Zoe's message is prevented from being delivered in the aftermath of the attack. GDD Agent Jordan Duram eventually brings the e-sheet to Amanda when he is investigating the bombing. He believes it is a goodbye message. Duram says he believes Zoe was one of the terrorists responsible for the bombing. This news disturbs Amanda and she tells Duram to get out. Amanda deeply mourns the death of her daughter. She spends a great deal of time alone at home watching home movies of Zoe. Agent Duram keeps trying to speak with Amanda about what she might know about Zoe's connections to the Soldiers of the One, the group responsible for the bombing. She refuses his efforts to search their home on the basis that Daniel does defense work on the premises. Revelations Exactly one month after the bombing, Amanda encounters Natalie Stark (Ben's mother) at a memorial service for the victims. Mrs. Stark returns Zoe's belongings, which she found in Ben's room. Driven to despair over the realization that her daughter had a boyfriend about whom she knew nothing, as well as a golden STO infinity pin among her daughter's possessions, Amanda confesses to the crowd that Zoe may have caused the bombing. She says her daughter was a terrorist and apologizes to the furious crowd. When Amanda held up Zoe's STO infinity pin to the crowd at the memorial, this provided the probable cause the Global Defense Department needed to authorize a search of Zoe's property. Agent Duram uses the hostility towards the Graystones to cut through the political red-tape to expedite a search order to gain entry to the lockers at the Athena Academy and to the Graystone residence. The school's lockers are ransacked and everything in Zoe's bedroom is confiscated. Indignant, Amanda asks Duram, "What is this to you? Who did you lose on the train?", to which he replies, "I lost everyone on that train." Aftermath In the fallout following her announcement, Amanda resigns her position at the hospital. The media dubs her, "Terror Mom". With public opinion backlashing against the Graystones, Amanda's opinion of her daughter oscillates as she moves from a grieving and bewildered mother to the defender of her family's name. Hoping to salvage the Graystone name and the plummeting stock of Graystone Industries, Daniel books an appearance on Baxter Sarno's talk show. As Daniel bungles the interview, Amanda arrives and declares that her husband is doing it wrong. She joins her husband on stage where she says that Sarno, Caprica, and the media have it wrong. Amanda's heartfelt defense of her daughter, along with Daniel's willingness to appease the public, turns an otherwise disastrous interview into a public relations success. When Sam Adama (posing as Sarno's driver) escorts Amanda Graystone home that night, he makes it perfectly clear that although the Graystones may be on the cusp of swinging public opinion back in their direction, there are plenty of people ready to hold Amanda and Daniel responsible for the train bombing deaths, including those of his sister-in-law and niece. Unraveling Separation Amanda survives her jump from the Pantheon Bridge. She convalesces at a secluded cabin with Clarice. Daniel keeps calling her to try to work out their problems, but she ignores his calls. Amanda eventually leaves him a message saying she cannot talk because she needs more time. Infiltration Agent Duram tries to convince Amanda that Clarice Willow is STO and therefore is part of the group that killed her daughter. Furthermore, Duram wants her to spy on Clarice. Amanda angrily rejects the idea. However, later in the day she slowly realizes he could be right. She convinces Clarice to let her move into Willow home. During her stay at the Willow house, Clarice's wife, Mar-Beth, accuses Amanda of challenging their way of doing things, especially regarding how Mar-Beth chooses to handle her pregnancy. Amanda says it is just her training as a doctor and she means no offense. Mar-Beth tells Amanda to leave their home. In order to stay so she can keep spying on them for the GDD, Amanda lies, saying that Zoe was unexpected and that she got postpartum depression. Amanda thanks Mar-Beth for allowing her to stay in their home and that she actually envies their family. Moved by Amanda's "confession", Mar-Beth reconsiders and lets Amanda stay. Restoring the Family Stopping the STO Amanda and Daniel rush to Atlas Arena to stop a terrorist bombing planned by the Soldiers of the One. Clarice Willow and her husbands, Nestor and Olaf Willow, are the masterminds behind this plot to show the Twelve Colonies the desirability of Virtual Heaven. On the day of the Caprica Buccaneers versus the Delphi Legion game, Amanda and Daniel gain entry to the camera room of the arena and subdue the television cameraman. Then they thwart the STO's operation by deploying military planes with U-87 robots to descend onto the playing field. The robots eliminate every STO martyr with only minimal damage to the arena. The Future Additional Images Head 7.jpg|Amanda and Daniel in the opening credits sequence. 101 Zoe Amanda Argue.jpg|Zoe provokes Amanda during an argument. 101 Amanda Duram.jpg|Duram tells Amanda that he thinks Zoe was one of the terrorists. 102 Confession.jpg|Amanda speaks to the crowd at the MAGLEV Bombing Memorial Service. Caprican Tribune Newspaper.jpg|Amanda's confession of Zoe as the MAGLEV bomber makes the headlines. 104 Priyah Cyrus Amanda Backstage.jpg|Amanda believes that everyone has it wrong about Zoe. 107 Clarice Amanda.jpg|Clarice takes Amanda away from the MAGLEV explosion site. Amanda07.jpg|Amanda at a social function with her husband 109 Amanda's Scar.jpg|Amanda looks at her scars from a past suicide attempt. 109 Amanda Gathers her Courage.jpg|Amanda prepares to jump off the Pantheon Bridge. 116 Duram Amanda Park Mountains.jpg|Duram and Amanda meet to discuss her infiltration of the Willow home. 116 Amanda Duram Park Bench.jpg|Jordan tells Amanda he was burned at the GDD. 116 Duram Amanda Park.jpg|Duram tells Amanda the cost of protecting her identity as a confidential informant. 117 Daniel Amanda.jpg|Daniel and Amanda wait for Zoe in New Cap City. 118 Graystones Wanted.jpg|Gara Singh frames Daniel and Amanda for the MAGLEV bombing. 118 Zoe Amanda.jpg|Amanda and Zoe watch Daniel on a television interview with Baxter Sarno. 118 Zoe Is Born.jpg|Zoe is "born" into a synthetic body so she can live in the real world. Behind the Scenes Deleted Affair Plotline In the episode, Amanda was having an affair with Daniel's business rival, Tomas Vergis, who was portrayed by Roger R. Cross. Ronald D. Moore wanted the character of Amanda to be more sympathetic, so they deleted the affair storyline before the episode aired. The Vergis role was recast and debuted in with John Pyper-Ferguson in the part. "Pilot - Unrated, Extended Edition." Caprica: Season 1.0, created by Ronald D. Moore and Remi Aubuchon, commentary by Director Jeffrey Reiner, Executive Producer/Writer Ronald D. Moore and Executive Producer David Eick, episode 101, Syfy, 2010, disc one, 33:12-34:32. Deleted Gaslighting Plotline In his effort to take from Daniel everything he loves, Tomas Vergis gaslights Amanda into thinking she sees Darius everywhere. She sees him at the site of the MAGLEV bombing, at the site of a car crash in Caprica City, and driving over the bridge where he died years ago. Vergis' intent is to drive Amanda over the edge. Vergis' Driver poses as Darius, to whom he bears an incredible likeness. The producers later realized that this plot strained credulity so they reworked it. The new plot became Amanda's deteriorating mental health. She is reminded of Darius due to the grief over losing her daughter. This, combined with her realization that Daniel is responsible for theft and murder, leads to her suicide attempt. "End of the Line." Caprica: Season 1.0, created by Ronald D. Moore and Remi Aubuchon, commentary by Executive Producer David Eick and series regular Paula Malcomson, episode 109, Syfy, 2010, disc four. Season Two "The Caprica Times" website interviewed Kevin Murphy about what would have happened if Caprica had been renewed for a second season. Murphy said, "During the five-year gap, we would have told the story (in flashback) of the many wrong turns along the road to creating skin-job Zoe. No matter how hard our two geniuses (along with plastic surgeon, Amanda) tried, they couldn’t bridge the 'uncanny valley' of revulsion humans experience when they meet a robot that’s almost human." "Zoe is a skin-job, but not the undetectable kind from Battlestar Galactica. It’s a rudimentary version of the technology. She’s more like Arnold in 'Terminator.' The writers reasoned that nobody in the future Battlestar Galactica series was aware this early skin-job existed because Daniel went to great pain and expense to keep it hidden." Capricatimes. "The Caprica Times Exclusive Interview: Kevin Murphy." The Caprica Times (edited), 29 April 2011. References Category:New Cap City